Knight-Errantly Chapter Eleven


Main Theme- Angel of the Morning by Juice Newton


Brendol sits on the bottom steps of the Great Temple. The humidity on Yavin is less intense today, so Luke decided to hold classes outdoor. Currently, he's drilling the Initiates through Forms I-VI. Form I takes precedence since they are Initiates, but Luke does take the time to help each of them in their favorites. He remembers the middling days of Clone Wars when Desolous was just a Temple Guard and he was just Tarkin's aide.

"Form I should be the only form the Initiates concern themselves with."

"But wouldn't it be wiser to have the Initiates taught in all the Forms instead of just the first?"

"Initiates are children, Bren."

"Children are resilient."

"Children can only handle so much."

"I learned how to properly kill a man at seven."

Brendol remembers the conversation ending in awkward silence; it wouldn't be much later until Desolous was comfortable enough to ask him more about his childhood. It usually ended with bits of gold swirling in his silver eyes.

What would he think of the New Jedi Order? He would say that Luke was being too indulgent; they'll grow up to be spoiled padawans. Then again, he always hated children, even the ones that would grow up to be his Inquisitors.

His comlink goes off and it's the frequency of the one child that Desolous would've hated the least.

"Dragonling, how are you doing?"

"I'm better now." Armitage rasps. Brendol knows of his training accident and that he should be resting in medbay.

"Not enough to leave medbay for a day or more."

"I'll be good in a day!" Armitage huffs almost like Rama, but Rama would insist that he wasn't.

"And you shouldn't try leaving medbay until then. Waste will restrain you."

"He is correct." Waste concurs.

"I'll only get up for the 'fresher." Armitage promises.

"Good. You'll need that energy when Den's done with those pirates. You're overdue for a lecture."

"I know. I should've just move!"

"Why did you freeze up?"

"I saw a Force Ghost." Armitage whispers so Waste doesn't hear. The good meddroid is of the opinion that Armitage's ability to see Force Ghosts and Sith Spirits are mental delusions brought about by an overactive imagination.

"Anyone famous?"

"Probably the most infamous. And he'll be back."

"Yeah, I can only think of one with that power to return."

"Bright side is his family is on Nagi, so I won't have to endure the most painful of family reunions."

"Let's hope he has the restraint to not haunt them."

"I get this sixth sense that major family drama is going to happen anyways."

"Captain Siva is here." Waste announces.

"Oh, gotta go! Love you!"

"Love you too."

And it ends while Luke lets his students take a break. The Jedi Master walks up to him with a water canteen in his hand and offers it to him.

"The meddroids said that you need to keep hydrated in the heat."

"Thanks." Brendol accepts and takes a big gulp before handing it back to Luke. "You need it too since you're the one that's moving about vigorously in the heat."

"I'm from Tatooine! I'm used to the heat." Luke drinks heartily though.

"Don't spill a drop. Water cannot be wasted, not even on the dead."

"…Are you talking about harvesting water from corpses? Is that what they do in the FO?"

"No, but I've seen it done. Recently too, on Parnassos."

"Is it a desert world?"

"It's a wasteland that was abandoned by Con Star Mining. I crashed there thanks to their long-forgotten defense system. Met some people there, heard their stories, got taken to some gladiatorial arena for death matches, and then we were rescued."

"You say all of this like it's a regular day for you."

"Resilience is not just reserved for children."


Desolous marvels at the natural camaraderie between the pair. Luke isn't horrified by Bren's captivity on Parnassos and is more surprised by Bren's nonchalance of it all. If he knew the specifics to Bren's childhood and early teenage years, then Bren's nonchalance wouldn't be a surprise. It frustrated Desolous in the early days of their relationship; the slavery, the abuse, and killings that were the building blocks of his lover's childhood, yet Bren would focus on the snatches of little pleasures between tragedies. Like chasing madder fireflies, the night before his mother sold him on his sixth life day.

"It sounds like Armitage inherited your resilience."

"He didn't need me. He already had it."

Desolous can see the pinprick of pain. He's remembering the near-year of searching for Armitage while he was being held captive by a vengeful Force-user. She wanted to avenge her masters, one slain by clone troopers and the other by Vader, and herself. And Armitage happened to be blood-related to the man who orchestrated all the galaxy's woes.

"You should give yourself more credit."

"I can't really do that. I'm not exactly parent material."

"But you're there for him. You tell him you love him. And you make him stay in bed when he's hurt, so I'd say you're a fairly good father."

"Believe me, Rama was the father that dragonling deserved. Kind, affectionate, and nurturing. He wanted to be a parent, though he didn't think it would happen to him so soon."

Coldness seeps into Desolous. It should've numbed him to hear Brendol's praises for his second love, but it feeds something in the pit of his soul.

"I don't think I've ever heard you talk about him before. Was he the Temple Guard that you were in love with?"

"No, that was Desolous. Given such a name, it's no wonder how self-fulfilling his prophecy would be."

"What prophecy?"

"It's not the Chosen One. Rather, his childhood bullies predicted he would bring nothing but desolation."

"I didn't think bullying would be tolerated in the Order."

"They were children, and children can be as shitty to each other as the adults. Ironically, he did bring desolation to the Order."

"Did he defect and join Count Dooku?"

"He would become the Grand Inquisitor."

The shock in those sky-blue eyes send Desolous back to the night he returned to Brendol as the Grand Inquisitor. Firmly secure in his Dark Side knowledge and status in the fledgling Empire, he returned to his younger lover a year after Order 66. He thought he knew what he was going to do when he found that rundown cottage on backwater Arkanis. He thought he was going to free himself of attachment finally.

But it was Brendol, and he always defied logic…


Anakin and the rest of the Line was thrown out, quite literally in Anakin's case, after Desolous couldn't satisfy his Skywalker bloodlust for the Force wouldn't let them. The Line went to the library, needing a break from the living drama. Anakin said he would walk to clear his mind. Bruck rolled his eyes but managed to keep his mouth shut.

The walk led him through the gardens where he briefly watched Mace Windu and his former padawan meditating together, but he left when Mace gave him a stern look. He found his way back to Desolous's door and decided that the Force wanted him to make amends. He barges in without warning and finds the Pau'an beside the holoprojector.

His son, Luke, is chatting away with Brendol Hux.

It's so nice that Luke has made a friend out of the old imp. I wonder if it can be more. Nah, he was frightfully serious when he took his vow of celibacy. Besides, Armitage doesn't seem too keen on Luke. I need to investigate that…Focus, Ani! I'm here to apologize and hope that Desolous won't try to crack my skull again.

Desolous is meditating since he didn't open his eyes at the intrusion. Anakin wonders how deep he's in meditation. He touches Desolous's shoulder and gets sucked into the past.

It's raining hard, turning the ground into mud with bits hard rocks. His boots squelch as he makes his way to the patchwork cottage on Arkanis. He goes to the back and spies through the kitchen's tiny window. He sees a white candle on the table and then he sees Brendol striking a match. The red-orange flames bathe the younger man's cleanshaven face in warm colors. His eyes are still a breath-taking blue.

He goes back to the front and heads for the green door. He knocks twice and waits a moment. The door squeaks like a womp rat being strangled by a dream-snake.

The young man, the last attachment to his former self, looks at him with his bright eyes. Shock is most evident in those eyes, but so is happiness and love.

The Grand Inquisitor turns to the Force for guidance:

Kiss him.

And so, he does.

"GET OUT OF MY MIND!" Anakin is sent hurtling across the room. He looks up to see an incredibly angry Desolous looming over him. Anakin is in trouble.


The Warlord's Keep juts out of the mountainside like a dark Tehk'la blade. It is surprisingly smaller than the port city, perhaps only a quarter of its size, but it has all the dark grandeur that would impress its haughtiest of citizens. Thornlike spikes cover most of the exterior, but there are columns of crystals acting as a buffer between spikes. The crystals are such a dark shade of purple that Leia first thought they were black. Leia wonders how many birds impale themselves on the sharp points decorating the Warlord's Keep. Han makes a joke about the Warlord will be a hedgehog. Harmon Sho ignores him and continues his lecture on Nagi's recent history.

"The Warlord's Keep is modeled on the ancient palaces of pre-Tof Invasion era. The sharp points are designed to collect solar energy that provide most of the palace's power needs."

"But what about at night or during a storm? How else do you get clean energy?" Ben asks. Since he was born and spent most of his childhood on Chandrila, Ben like all children on Chandrila were strongly educated in environmental issues.

"Hydropower. The mountain is a source of many springs, particularly hot springs, most of which are on the other side of the range. The Keep has its own private hot spring, which all of you will have access to during your stay."

"What happens when the springs dry up?"

"We are looking into plant power. By that I mean in harnessing the local flora's natural electricity, but that is in its early stage. Perhaps, your New Republic can provide further ideas for alternative sources." Sho replies diplomatically. He's been quite patient with them, even though he doesn't find any of Han's remarks humorous since his smiles are as hollow as the spikes mounted on the walls.

"Where are the guards?" Ben translates for Sho when Chewie bellows his concern. Leia looks for the telltale signs of coups or traps, but she sees no tracks of boots nor the coppery scent of blood in the air.

"Warlord Nihl has no guards. He believes that the Force will protect him."

"That's not the Force works." Han states with dry sarcasm.

"I believe that the Ambassador is implying that Warlord Nihl draws power from the Force and uses it to bolster his own strength when he needs to." Ben theorizes, and Sho nods quickly. Leia can tell that Sho hopes it's the case. Han shakes his head and mutters how power takes away commonsense.

"Warlord Nihl mentioned that his planet is open to the Grays. Will we be seeing any of them?" Leia inquires.

"Some are staying in the Keep, but most are roaming the planet until the festival is under way."

"The festival?" Ben's voice goes up with excitement.

"We have a festival in honor of the crystals. When the Tofs conquered our planet, they attempted to snuff out our traditions and culture, so we'd be pliable slaves. They would do this to the rest of the Firefist galaxy." Sho pauses to let Ben process what he said. Ben's eyes harden with justifiable anger towards these long-gone Tofs. "Our historians and anthropologists are still cataloging the lost Nagai holidays."

"So, when is the festival?" Ben asks in a steady voice. He's breathing in and out to keep himself calm.

"In about three days' time. All of you are of course invited to join."

Ben looks at her with visible excitement and practically begging with his large, brown eyes.

"We'll attend." Leia promises. Ben's smile is always worth it. Sho moves forward and stops at the double doors. The doors have etchings all over them that look almost like musical notes if written purposely in a childish scrawl. She feels almost cold looking at them, and Ben shivers. Sho pushes the doors open with a mighty shove.

"There's color." Han says with incredulity. The interior is warm with murals depicting watercolor scenes of babbling brooks, flowery meadows, and willowy trees. There are clear vases filled with a rainbow assortment of crystals. The floors are vanilla in color that shine from the smashed crystals that made them.

"The Keep also doubles as an art museum."

"Slick move in hoarding all the good art for yourself." Han whispers to Leia. She smiles a small one. Sho keeps moving down the hall, not speaking and just letting the art to speak for itself. Eventually, they stop before a red door with a dagger sticking out of it.

"This is the weapons' room. Weapons are a significant part of our culture." He opens the door with a turn of the silver knob. Knives and blasters take up all the space on the black and red walls, but they do not hold Leia's attention like the group of children. Three of the children have the white skin and four clawed digits of Arkanians, but they have pure blue eyes and lip markings of female Voss. One boy has purplish skin with dark eyes and pointed ears like a Sephi. Another is a Zeltron girl with Arkanian white hair. Finally, there are two humans, one a girl and the other a boy.

"Oh look, humans!" The human girl exclaims in a near-perfect Coruscanti accent. She has long, curly brown hair and a round face. Her eyes are green with flecks of gold like a spukamas. She wears a sun-colored dress that is perfect for this summer-fall weather. She grins like a very mischievous child. The human boy wears a tight-lip frown. His hair is a wavy red orange, almost the same color of the girl's dress. His face is sharper than the girl's with purple bags under his eyes like he doesn't get enough sleep. He wears emerald-colored robes with a high collar like a Naboo royal.

Ben gapes at them, and Leia can guess why. The children look like identical copies of Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker. She hopes it's just a genetic coincidence. After all, Luke took a vow of chastity.

"Senator Organa and her family are finally here." The boy narrows his eyes like a threatened tusk-cat.

"Is Armie with you? Where's Armie?" The girl looks excitedly at them.

"He's the Dark Lady Lumiya. He got hurt and needed rest." Ben says coolly, but there's a tightness around his mouth. "What are you to him?"

"Armie's like a…" The girl pauses like she's thinking awfully hard about her answer. "…an imaginary friend!"

"But he's real." Ben looks at her with confusion.

"He just doesn't seem of this reality, you know?" She smiles with her pearly teeth.

"We've known him since we were toddlers." The boy would be bragging if he didn't look so put out by their appearance. "What are you to him?"

"He's my friend." Ben manages without gritting his teeth.

"He's always been rather too trusting." The boy replies curtly.

"Now, that's not nice." The girl scolds him playfully. "We haven't even introduced ourselves."

"Fine. I'm Jacen."

"And I'm Jaina!"

"We're the Jade Twins." They say in perfect unison.

[Are we sure they're not clones?] Chewie asks in a concerned bellow.

"Force, I hope not." Han mutters.

"Where are your parents?" Leia finally asks. The children exchange conspiring looks with each other.

"Mother's working. We don't know what father's doing. Perhaps, you can tell us."

"And why would we know?" Ben inquires. The twins share an unpleasant smile.

Oh no.

"Because Luke Skywalker is our father."


Author's Comments- There are no links.

Jacen and Jaina Jade are based on the Solo Twins from Legends/EU. The Solo Twins, also named Jacen and Jaina, were Han's and Leia's first-born children who were gifted in the Force. The Jade Twins are going to share some similarities to the Solo Twins, but they aren't them, and their parentage will highlight this in the next chapter or so.

Next chapter: Anakin and Desolous have another conversation, Leia deals with a headache, and Armitage and Dead-Star get dragged into some Amidala-Skywalker-Organa-Solo-Jade family drama.